Bobbin-handling machine



J-un a, 1924. 1,496,080

' E. R. ALDERMAN BOBBIN HANDLING MACHINE Filed Jan. 18 192s INVENTOR I KM ATTORN EYS Patented To all whom it may concern Be. it known that I, EUGEN R. Amine MAN, citizen of the United States, i'esidin at Holyoke, in the county of Hampden an State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bobbin-Handling Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to the bandling of em )ty bobbins which are to be used to replace the filled bobbins on a spinning frame. More specifically the invention relates to improvements inv bobbin-handling mechanism of the general character disclosed in the inventors co-pending application Serial No. 550,490, filed April 7, 1922.

The object ofthc' present invention is to provide further developed and improved means for removing bobbins from an indiscriminately arranged mass and feeding them into position for delivery one-by-one to bobbin testing devices or other mechanismfor operating thereon.

The ll'lVOIltlOIl consists in the features of construction and in the combinations and arrangeinents of parts hereinafter described I nowconsidered its preferred form;

and claimed, the advantages of: which will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

' In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View, partially broken away, of bobbin-handling mechanism embodying the. presentinvention in what is Fig. 2 isa top plan view of the chute shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken along the lines 3-3 and 4-4 respectively, of Fig. 1;

Fig. 51s a detailplan view of a section of the bobbin conveyor shown in Fig. 1,.

and

Fig. '6 is a side-elevational. view of the parts shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawings, the invention therein shown comprises a bobbin chute 8 and a conveyer 9 which functions to feed the bobbins upwardly through the inclined intermediate portion 10 of the chute. The receiving end of the bobbin chute slopes downwardly, as indicated at 11, from a bobbin-receiving hopper which has notbeen illustrated but. which may be of the same construction as the receiving hopper shown in the copending application Serial No. 550,- 490, hereinbefore referred to, and which may be provided with similar mechanism bobbin shown) of the bobbin chute 8, inclines downwardly from the upper end .of the intermediate portion 10 and leads to a position adjacent the bobbin testing instrumentalities to which the bobbins are to be delivered.

the into the chute 8. The delivery portion tnot Suitable escapement devices such as those disclosed in said co-pending application may be provided at the free end of the delivery .areextended vertically a-short distance to provide a guideway '14 for the shanks of the bobbins.

After being introduced into the receiving end of thebobbin chut'e thebobbins slide by gravity to the lower end of the downwardly inclined portion 11 where they are liable to accumulate in a mass in which individual bobbins are indiscriminately arranged in various positions. It is desired that the bobbins shall be separated from this mass and positioned uniformly in the delivery section of the chutelwith their heads uppermost and supported by the transversely converging side walls of the chute and with their shanks depending through the guideway 12, in order that they may be properly presented to the testing mechanism. der to facilitate the separation of individual '95 In orv bobbins from the mass at the bottom of the downwardly inclined section 11 of the chute and to insure the final delivery of the bobbins uniformly positioned as desired at the delivery end of the chute, certain improvements have been embodied in the construction of the conveyer 9 and in the intermediate upwardly inclined portion 10 of the bobbin chute, as will now be explained.

The conveyer'9 is of the endless type and comprises a sprocket chain 15 which passes over sprocket wheels 16 and 17 and which is provided at regularly spaced intervals with feed fingers 18 that project at right angles to the length of the chain and are adapted to travel throu h the narrow guideway 14 in the bobbin 0 ute. The sprocket wheels are fast upon suitably journaled shafts 19 and 20, respectively. The shaft 20 of the sprocket wheel 17 is adapted to be driven in unison with the mechanism to which the bobbins are to be delivered b the f eding mechanism now being describe and may for example. be driven through a suitable clutch (not shown) controlled by me:-hanism associated with the bobbin testing devices disclosed in the hereinbefore mentioned application so that the feed of the bobbins up the intermediate section 10 of the chute will be arrested when the testing devices become inoperative. As shown, the sprocket wheel shaft 20 is provided with a crank pin 22 and the latter may be connected, as in the mechanism of said application, to drive bobbin-feeding means associated with the receiving hopper whereby the bobbins are fed from the hopper into the receiving end of the chute 8. The sprocket chain 15 is preferably of the type shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6, and the feed fingers 18 comprlse half tubes or semi-cylindrical shells arranged with their open sides facing 1n the direction of feed to engage and partially embrace the bobbins. The feed fingers 18 are provided at one end with cars 23 which extend in opposite directions at right angles both to the length of the conveyer chain and to the length of the feed fingers. To support the feed fingers 18, cert-am of the links of the conveyor chain are provided with lugs 24 which project from opposite sides thereof and to which the ears 23 are rigidly secured by means of screws 25. Between the sprocket wheels 16 and 17 the forwardly moving stretch of the conveyor chain passes over one or more idle flanged rollers 26 which are suitably su ported from the overlying portion of the obbin chute and serve to support the chain and prevent it from sagging by reason of its weight. The upper stretch of the chain 15 will be held taut by reason of the pull exerted thereon by the driving sprocket wheel 17 and the adjustment of the chain and sprocket whee s is such as to insure a certain amount of slack in the lower stretch of the chain, for the purpose of enabling the feed fingers to tilt backwardly from their normal perpendicular positions as far as may be necessary to disengage themselves from a bobbin which may become jammed or otherwise prevented from advancing readily in the chute. As soon as a feed finger has been moved to a ,-position clear of an obstructed bobbin it will section 10 of the bobbin chute is shaped in of the inclined side walls.

eeaoeo 'tion to the above described variation in the depth of the chute between the upper and lower extremities of the chute section 10, the pitch of the transversely .inclined sides of this section also varies gradually from the bottom to the top thereof, the pitch of the sides being somewhat greater at the upper than at the lower extremity of said section. The shape in cross-section,-of the upper extremity of the intermediate chute section 10 is shown clearly in Fig. 4:, wherein the sides of the chutes are steeper than in the crosssection taken at the lower end of the section 10. As shown, the feed fin ers 18 project upwardly into the bottom 0 the chute and extend to points substantially half way between the upperand lower longitudinal edge To prevent bobbins from riding upon the feed fingers with their heads resting upon the upper ends of the fingers as shown at 27 in Fig. 1, one or more cross bars 28 are provided in the section 10 of the chute, said cross-bars bein so located that the upper ends of the feed fingers will just clear the under sides of the bars.

In operation, the bobbins fed into the chute from the receiving hopper are liable to accumulate at the junction of the sections 10 and 11 in a mass, such as shown at 26, wherein the bobbins are indiscriminately arranged in various positions. As the conveyer 9 advances, the feed fingers wipe through the mass 26 and each finger normally functions to separate a single bobbin therefrom and to carry it up the chute in the position of the bobbin 29 in 'Fig. 1 wherein the shank extends through the narrow guideway 12 while the head rides along the lower longitudinal margins of the side walls.

It may happen that more than one bobbin will'be separated from the mass 26 by one of the feed fingers 18, in which event the two or more bobbins thus separated may be so disposed in the chute that their shanks will not be received in the guideway 12. If the bobbins are riding up the chute section 10 in this manner, the shanks are necessarily positioned more or less at an angle to the length of the guideway or otherwise they would be received therein. If, however, the bobbin is disposed at an angle of more than a few degrees, to the length of the guideway it is obvious in view of the narrowness of the channel below the cross bars, that one end of the bobbin must extend upwardly into position to be engaged by the lower cross bar 28. somewhat as shown at. 30 in Fig. 1. The lower Cross bar :28 will then be engaged by the angularly disposed bobbins and will function to rearrange the position of the bobbins relatively to the sides of the chute and enable them to assume the normal position indicated at 29. If. however, the degree of angularity of a bobbin relatively to the-length of the guideway 12, although sutlicient to prevent the shank from entering the guideway is nevertheless insuiiicient to elevate one end of the bobbin into the plane of the lower cross bar 28, the elevation of the higher end of the bobbin will be graduallv increased. relatively to the base of the channel, as the bobbin continues on its way toward the top of the chute section 10 by reason of the increasing transverse pitch of the sides of the chute and resulting narrowing of the channel. Consequently, by the time the bobbin reaches the vicinity the uppermost cross bar 28, one end of tlfi: bobbin will ,extend far enough above the base of the channel to engage said cross bar and the lattel' will then be effective to change the angullar position of the bobbin and enable its {shank to be received in the guideway 12 and thus insure that it will be positioned as desired when discharged into the delivery section of the chute.

If it should happen that two or more bobbins arrange themselves lengthwise of the channel ahead of one of the feed fingers with their rear ends engaged by said finger and their forward ends elevated insufficiently to be engaged and rearranged by the lowermost cross-ha r 28, the increasing pitch of the side walls and resulting narrowing of the channel as thebobbin is fed toward the top of the chute section 10 insures that the bobbin will beeventually tilted sufficiently to be engaged and rearranged by the uppermost cross-bar. The slightest rearrangement of bobbins thus positioned will result in causing their shanks to be directed into the guideway 12 by the transverse pitch of the side walls of the chute. In case a bobbin should become positioned with its head rest-- ing upon the end of a feed finger it will then be necessary to dislodge the bobbin and cause it to becomeproperly positioned in the chute before it reaches the delivery section thereof in order to insure that, it will be positioned the same as the other bobbins when finally discharged from said delivery section. The dislodging of the bobbin from the feed finger will be effected in the following manner: The lowermost cross bar 28, being located in the path of the head of the improperly positioned bobbin will engage the same and cause the feed finger which is carrying said bobbin to tilt backwardly until the head of the bobbin clears the cross bar,

whereupon the tension of the conveyor chain will cause said feed finger to return quickly to its normal perpendicular position. Then,

if not before, the head of the bobbin will be,

dislodged from its seat at the top of the feed finger and will fall to the bottom of the channel in the chute, between two adjacent feed fingers and will then be carried, in the position of the bobbin 29, to the top of the section 10 and discharged into the delivery section of the chute. I

In actual practice with the present device, it has been found that no bobbins have succeeded in reaching the top of the chute section 10 without being positioned as required, i. e., with their shanks extending downwardly through the guideway 12, as indicated at 29. It has been found impossible, with any form of feeding means heretofore employed to positively insure that all bobbins would be finally positioned uniformly in the delivery scctlon of the chute. \Vithout such assurance the delivery of bobbins to the bobbin testing mechanism was liable to be interrupted at any time and consequently reuired constant supervision. The present ceding device, however, has proved to be entirely reliable and no supervision has been found necessary to insure the continuous and effective functioning thereof.

' The invention having been described, that which is claimed is:

1. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guideway narrower than the diameter of the bobbin heads but wide enough to freely receivc the shanks of the bobbins. the transverse inclination of said side walls increasing from the bottom to the top of the chute for the. purpose described, and means for feeding bobbins upwardly through said chute.

2. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guideway narrower than the diameter ofthe bobbin heads but wide enough to freely receive the shanks of the bobbins. means for feeding bobbins upwardly through the chute, and a cross bar extending from one side Wall of the chute to the other for the purpose described.

3. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guideway narrower than the diameter of the bobbin heads but wide enough to freely receive the shanks of the bobbins, the. transverse inclination of said side walls increasing from the bottom to the top of the chute, means for feeding bobbins upwardly through said chute, and bars extending across the chute at different points along the length thereof for the purpose described;

4. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guideway narrower than the diameter of the bobbin heads but wide enough to freely receive the shanks of the bobbins, yielding feed fingers projecting through said guideway and into said chute and movable upwardly from the bottom to the top of the chute for conveying bobbins therethrough, and a cross bar in said chute above the path of said fingers adapted to be engaged by such bobbins as may extend above the plane of the tops of said fingers for shifting said bobbins relatlvely to said fingers for the purpose described.

5. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guideway narrower than the diameter of the bobbin heads but widc'enough to freely receive the shanks of the bobbins, means for supporting a mass of bobbins adjacent the lower end of said chute, and means for feeding bobbins upwardly through said chute comprising an endless chain carrying spacedapart feed fingers movable through said mass of bobbins and through said guideway and chute from end-to-end of the latter, said fingers being adapted to yield if the feed of the bobbins is obstructed.

6. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guide way narrower than the diameter of the meeoso arranged to enable the fingers to tilt bacltwardly to clear themselves from a bobbin engaged thereby if the advance of bobbin is resisted and to restore said fingers to normal feeding position after they have been disengaged from the bobbin.

7. Bobbin feeding means comprising an upwardly inclined bobbin chute having its side walls transversely inclined toward the base of the chute and separated along their lower longitudinal edges to form a guideway narrower than the diameter of the bobbin heads but wide enough to freely receive the shanks of the bobbins, and means for feeding bobbins upwardly through said .chute, said means permitting the bobbins to be positioned in the chute with their heads resting upon the side walls adjacent the lower longitudinal edges of the latter and their shanks depending freely through said guideway, and means for feeding bobbins upwardly through said chute, comprising an endless sprocket chain arranged beneath the chute with its opposed stretches parallel to the chute, and half tubular feed fingers rigidly secured to the links of said chain at spaced apart intervals and adapted to project through said guideway and into said chute for partially embracing bobbins positioned therein as above described and feeding them upwardly through the chute.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

EUGENE R. ALDERMAN. 

